The technique of carbon dating has re-emerged at the centrestage in an ongoing controversy pertaining to the discovery of an alleged ‘Shivling’ within the premises of the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi.

After a court-ordered videography survey confirmed the object’s presence in the mosque, four of the five petitioners from the Hindu side filed a suit demanding its carbon dating to determine its age.

This plea has, however, been dismissed by the Varanasi district court on Friday.

This plea has, however, been dismissed by the Varanasi district court on Friday.

Carbon dating, or radiocarbon dating is simply a technique deployed by archaeologists to ascertain the age of organic objects up to 50,000 years old.

This method has helped historians to acquire knowledge about past civilizations, changes in the earth, and in the climate.

The basis of radiocarbon dating is simple: all living things absorb carbon from the atmosphere and food sources around them,

Including a certain amount of natural, radioactive isotope of carbon referred to as carbon-14. Natural processes such as photosynthesis and respiration aid this absorption process.

When the plant or animal dies, they stop absorbing, but the radioactive carbon that has been accumulated continues to decay at a steady pace.